2023 reread:
I’m keeping my rating at 4 stars but I’ll bump it up to 4.5/5 in here
I still enjoyed this story so so much, probably more so than I did the first time I read it but it still wasn’t quite worthy of a 5 star rating for me. I’m looking forward to finishing my reread of this series though!

Definitely a solid start to the series!!
I love all the characters. Calaena is such a badass!! Dorian is so sweet and adorable and I love him for it! And Chaol is so ... Mysterious and quiet and strong and it makes him such an intriguing character! I cannot wait to see what the rest of he series holds for all of them!
The world building was phenomenal as usual. Maas has such a way with words when it comes to creating the world her stories are taking place in. And the storyline itself was fantastic. I loved the competition and everything that was going on behind the scenes. I wish we would have been able to read more about the competition but I enjoyed what we got.
I cannot wait to keep reading this series!!